Thursday, September 3, 2015

Hot (32℃, 41℃ with the humidex), windy days are perfect for staying inside and quilting. The fabric and blocks are so 'busy' that I kept the quilting relatively simple (radiating lines and continuous curves mainly).

It is 22"x49". I used a thin poly/cotton batting, and Bottom Line thread for the free motion quilting (top and bottom).

The block patterns come from this book by Judy Martin - Knockout Blocks and Sampler Quilts. I am a huge fan of her books (the Courthouse Steps quilt I finished this summer was based on her Log Cabin book) and this one has lovely blocks. I had pieced these blocks years ago and they just sat around waiting for something to be made.

The book has so many blocks (mainly stars), and the rotary cutting measurements are for different sizes of blocks - a great reference book.

I also finished knitting this scarf -

The pattern is Lintilla by Martina Behm. I made this with hand spun yarn - merino, bamboo, and sparkling Angelina that I blended, and spun during the Tour de Fleece this year.

Now I am knitting a cowl with yarn all the way from New Zealand (thanks Raewyn!)-

The yarn is a Cashmere, Possum Down and Silk blend that is lovely and soft. I thought that I simple pattern would show it off best. The pattern is a 'feather and fan' cowl - a free pattern from Knitty called Ice Queen by Rosemary Hill. I decided not to add beads (they are too cold for our winters), I also did a picot cast-on instead of a provisional cast-on (much easier).

Carrying on the Tradition

The old quilts on the right side of my blog header photo are ones made by a couple of great-grandmothers, a grandmother and an aunt, plus some of their photos and some of their quilting supplies. The quilt in the background and the ones on the left are mine.